# Ex vivo bioengineering of functional biomimetic airways for treatment of neonatal and pediatric respiratory conditions

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · 2022 · $247,743

## Abstract

Project Summary
Ex vivo engineering of functional respiratory tissues continues to be challenging. However, new
bioengineering techniques are developing at a rapid pace. 3D bioprinting of trachea and large airways,
incorporating both cells and biomimetic materials, is increasingly being applied for treatment of neonatal and
pediatric respiratory conditions. Ideally, guided by medical imaging, a patient's own airway and/or alveolar
stem/progenitor cells can be utilized to generate a novel patient-specific 3D-printed construct. However,
biomimetic materials currently utilized in 3D bioprinting fail to recapitulate the complex microenvironment of
the native lung and are not optimal for supporting lung stem/progenitor cell growth, differentiation, and
function. Further, common biomimetic materials utilized do not grow as the patient ages. The objective of
our proposal is to bioengineer a functional airway, through 3D printing technology, that mimics native medium
and large airways in mechanical and compositional complexity. As extracellular matrix (ECM) has been
shown to play an integral part in lung development and the regulation of cellular processes, our hypothesis
is that decellularized ECM is an optimal substrate for 3D bioprinting of airway scaffolds and will promote
growth, differentiation, and function of representative differentiated airway epithelial stem/progenitor cells.
The following aims have been developed to test our hypothesis: Aim 1, mechanical optimization of human
dECM 3D bioprinted airway structures; Aim 2, optimization of cell viability and phenotype in 3D bioprinted
dECM airway structures. The significance of this proposal will be in demonstrating that dECM is an optimal
substrate for not only the support and differentiation of functional airway epithelial cells, but also for the 3D
printing of biomimetic airway tissues. The innovation of this proposal will be the optimization of this material
for use in the production of functional implantable 3D printed neonatal and pediatric airway constructs to treat
respiratory conditions such as Cystic Fibrosis, Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and lung hypoplasia due to
congenital defects.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10371031
- **Project number:** 5R21HD104069-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTINE M FINCK
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $247,743
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10371031

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10371031, Ex vivo bioengineering of functional biomimetic airways for treatment of neonatal and pediatric respiratory conditions (5R21HD104069-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10371031. Licensed CC0.

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